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Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Winter Is Here

Workout: 8 miles w/4 mi at 15k/lactate threshold/tempo pace.
Distance: 8.0 mi.
Time: 55:57.3 - 6:59 ppm.
Splits: 7:20.4, 7:27.6, 6:24.4, 6:30.7, 6:23.5, 6:03.4, 7:45.6, 8:01.1.
Chart
Map

As expected, winter has finally arrived here in Charlotte. Our season basically lasts from January 1-March 15. Anything before or after that is wildly inconsistent. I started this workout around 2:45pm - and it was 35 degrees with fairly strong winds. Yikes! At least the sun was out. I got a chance to try on a heavy-duty dry-fit shirt I got for Christmas, and wore that along with long shorts, gloves, and a hat. I didn't wear shoes, though.

Just kidding about the lack of shoes. I started from the Dowd and ran the first two miles at a comfortable pace before taking off down the greenway. I alluded in a previous post to a change in stride, and while I'd like to get to that in more detail in its own post, I can basically describe it as shorter, ground-hugging strides that make me feel like I'm simply gliding across the pavement. This results in both quicker steps and a lesser pounding, although the faster stride movements can lead to some tightness near the end of the run.

It takes a bit of concentration to run this way at higher speeds, but it works. Anytime I felt like slowing down today, I just started thinking about my form, about keeping my legs down and hugging the ground, and I would find myself moving a good bit faster every time. As you can see above I didn't quite run negative splits but I did nail down a 6:03 in the last mile - not bad for the end of a short tempo. I'll take it.

Man, it was cold, though. In lieu of the usual post-run Gatorade I warmed down inside the Y and retreated to Dilworth Coffee for a warm cup of goodness. I'll have to get used to this crap, I guess.

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